Steam generator



Jan. 9, 1951 Filed Jan. 4, 1946 L. M. FlNK STEAM GENERATOR mid}? Fig. I

5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR Leroy M Fink BY v I I ATTORNEY Jan. 9, 1951 L. M. FlNK 2,537,042

Fig.3

INVENTOR eroy M Fink ATTORNEY '5 Sheets-Sheet 4 L. M. F INK STEAM GENERATOR II, I

Jan. 9, 1951 Filed Jan. 4, 1946 INVEIQTOR l eroy M F [17k ATTORNEY Fig.4

Jan. 9, 1951 M. FlNK 2,537,042

STEAM GENERATOR Filed Jan. 4, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR l 8mg M Rink BY 5 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 9, 1951 UNITED STATES OFFICE STEAM GENERATOR Application January 4, 1946, Serial No. 638,942

10 Claims. 1

This invention relates to steam or vapor gencraters of the type in which substantially all of the steam is generated in furnace wall tubes.

An object or the invention is the economical and eilicient eneration of steam throughout a wide range of boiler load requirements.

Further, an object of the invention is to provide a high capacity steam generating installation character-sec by low first costs and low space requirements by reason of the utilization of highly effective heat absorbing surfaces and an ar rangement of heat absorbing surfaces so as to minimise the amount of tubin and thermal insulation required.

Further objects include the provsion of novel arrangements of circulating elements, in the interest of improved. thermal conditions and marked reductions in material and erection costs.

The inventon will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment of the invention, and other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section on the line i -l of Fig. 2- through the steam generator indicating the construction of the furnace and the relation of the convection section thereto;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 22 of Fig. 1 through the multiple furnaces of the installation, showing the division wall between the iurnaces:

Fig. 3 is a. clan section on the line t-s of Fig. 1, showing the hopper bottoms of the furnaces and arrangement of the groups of tubes in the furnace division wall;

Fig. i is" a partial plan showing the arrangement of the top water wall headers with reference to the furnace sections and the steam and water drum Fig. 5' is a detail view showing the construction of a furnace" division walL. on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 6 is a partial elevation of the upper part of the furnace division wall taken as indicated by line 6-4 of. Fig. 5 and the associated: arrows;

Fig. '7 is fragmentary horizontal section of a part of the furnace division wall taken as indicated by the line" h and associated arrows in Fig. 6-;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary elevation taken as indicated by the arrows? at B-8 in Fig; 5'. This view snows the manner which the tubes of one group of division wall tubes are secured together Fig. 9 is acarnal horizontalsection on the section line s s of Fig. 8 and Fig. 10 is a partial section of the hopper bottom tubes taken on the line ll lil of Fig. 5.

The divided furnace construction indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings contributes to the generation of a maximum amount of steam within given space requirements by providing steam generatw'all tubes subject to heat absorption from the separate combustion chambers it and i2 on opposite sides thereof.

Fig. 2 illustrates sets of pulverized fuel burners l t-l7 arranged at the top of the combustion chambers iB'-l2 and firing downwardly thereinto. When these buriiers" are in operation, furnace gases fiow through the combustion chambers to the gas inlet 25 of the convection section 22. In this section, gases first pass over the spaced tubes of the superheater 24- and then over the tubes of the economizer 25 to a fine 28. Be-- yond the economizer, the gases pass over the circulato'rs leading from the furnace Wall tubes to the" steam and water druih 30.

The wal s of the combustion chambers to and I?! are formed by upright steam generating tubes connected into boiler circulation, and the tubes or the furnace division wall are likewise con nected into the" boiler circulation by reason of the connection of their inlet ends to the lower headers 32 and 34, connected to the Water space of the drum 30 by the downcomers 36' and 38 and the downcomer connections 4c. At their upper ends the wall tubes are connected to the drum 38 through a plurality of separate relatively small diameter headers d2, 43, M, and 45, and their associated circulators. The headers 42 and 44 extend entirely across the top of the division wall and each has only a fraction (about 25%) of the total number of division wall tubes connected thereto (tubes nearest the observer in Fig. 2) while the headers 4-3 and 45 extend only half way across the width of the division wall. Each of these headers has about one-half of the remainder of the division wall tubes secured thereto. The header i2 is L shaped. and has outlet leg ll-i extending ata right angle to the front -to rear main part of the header, and disposed in substantial parallelism to the drum 35. The circulators such as 48 directly connect the outlet leg 45 to the drum 30. The companion header M is similar to the header 42 except that its right angled outletleg'extends in a direction opposite to the outlet leg 46. It is similarly directly connected to the steam and water drum 39' The short header disposed directly below header 4-4, an: outlet leg 5i extending at right 3 angles thereto and in substantial parallelism to the drum 3!), similar circulators 54-55 connecting the outlet leg H to the drum 3G.

The other short header 43 is similar to the header 45, with its outlet leg disposed directly below the outlet leg to header 42.

The tubes of the furnace division wall are in single row wall alignment near the top of the furnace as indicated in Figs. 2, 5, and '7, and they are held in such alignment by the arrangement of short sections of rods or bars HI-l5, shown in Figs. 6 and '7. In this construction the rod section 73 is welded to the tube 89 and the rods 12 and 1d are welded to the opposite sides of the next tube 82. Rod section 75 is welded to tube 8 5. This arrangement is continued across the face of the division wall.

At a position well above the convection section gas inlet 26, the furnace division wall tubes are divided into groups with the tubes of a group, such as the tubes 9il91 (Figs. 8 and 9), rigidly secured together by the welding of interposed rod or bar sections llill E6 to each of two adjoining tubes. Adjoining groups of tubes are bent oppositely as indicated in Figs. 2, 3, and 5 so that they extend oppositely into adjacent furnaces or combustion chambers. One group, for instance, will assume the position of the tube section 98 (Fig. 5) and the adjoinin group will assume the position indicated by tube section Hill.

The lower parts of the groups of tubes have relatively short, bent, or truss sections, as indicated at 32 and IE4 in Fig. 5. These sections converge downwardly into single row alignment at the position indicated at I 36. At this position, the tubes of adiacent groups are rigidly secured together, as by welding. Above the short truss sections l32 and lBd, longer truss sections l3!) and 90 extend to the upper part of the division wall where the adjoining groups of tubes converge into single row alignment. Through the use of opposite compo ite groups of tube sections dis laced from the vertical axial plane of the wall, a truss like effect is attained which provides a relatively stiff and stable perforated partition wall 1 adapted to variable pressure and temperature conditions of the multiple chambers furnace arrangement.

By reason of the securement of a plurality of tubes in groups as above described, and by reason of the opposite bending of t e groups, long A- shaped openings are provided between the combustion chambers l9 and 12, in order that pressure conditions may be equalized and, in order that t ere may be no damage by a pressure puff in one combustion chamber, or by other unusual combustion conditions. Also, the division wall is rigidified by the truss construction so that the vibration due to operating conditions is minimized. Furthermore, the securement of the adjacent division wall tubes into groups decreases the number of horizontally extending crotches apt to promote the accumulation of ash or slag and other residue products of combustion, and provides relatively wide inclined surfaces over which such solids may readily slide into the hoppers at the bottom of the fiunaces.

Below the truss constructions of the furnace division wall and below the position I36 of single row tube alignment, alternate division wall tubes are bent toward the header 3% and the intervening tubes are bent toward the header 32. The former are welded to hopper tube sections Hill of greater diameter and the latter are similarly welded to a larger diameter hopper tube sections I742. The

A junctions of these larger diameter hopper tube sections with the upper division wall tubes are in dicated at Md and H55. Because of the wider spacing of the hopper tube sections 949 and M2, there are welded thereto flat studs as indicated at l5l59 in Fig. 10.

Near the upper ends of the hopper tube sections it!) and 42 these sections are tied together by tension members such as IE9 and intermediate the lengths of the hopper tube wall sections the hopper tubes are supported at positions 52 and I64 by structural members l55-ll3 which are preferably supported by the furnace walls extending at right angles. to the division wall, so that all of the walls, including the sloping section of the hoppers will move together with changes of temperature.

Fig. 3, taken on the section line 3-3 of Fig. 1, shows the arrangement of the groups of division wall tubes, the oppositely bent groups, or truss sections being indicated at i8c-l 89. At the right of the group we three tubes, above the hoppers, are bent into a single row alignment transversely of the general direction of the division wall as indicated at 96 and at the opposite side of the division wall three tubes Hit-29E are similarly bent. This arrangement leaves free communication spaces at the ends of the division wall, establishing additional intercommunication between the combustion chambers l0 and I2 above the furnace hoppers.

The furnace front wall 2 H3 (Fig. 1) is defined by steam generating tubes ZlZ extending upwardly from the lower header 2 it which is in communication with the water space of the drum 33 through downcomers such as 35 and 38, and other downcomer connections. From the top header 2 l 6 the furnace roof tubes such as 2 l 8 extend through the upper part of the convection gas pass to the drum 30.

From the rear furnace wall header 22!), directly connected to the downcomers 222, steam generating tubes '22, extend vertically along the lower rear wa'l section 226, and thence along the inclined wall 223 at the lower part of the convection section. These tubes then extend in a plurality of rows and in staggered relation in a screen formation across the upward flow of gases into the convection gas pass, forming the screen 2313. Beyond the screen the tubes are disposed in single row alignment, forming the wall 232 separating the furnaces and the convection gas pass. At the top of this wall the steam generating tubes have bent circulator sections such as 234 and 235 extending across the gas flow at the top of the convection section, to the drum 30.

The furnace side wal s 268 and 2 52 (Fig. 2) are likewise defined by upright steam generating tubes. These tubes, indicated at 2 5 and 2 18, extend upwardly from lower headers 24S and 258 which are supplied with water through the downcomer connections 252 and 25d. They first extend along the inclined hopper walls 256 and 258, and then vertically to the top or" the furnaces. They are there connected to headers, there being two headers for each of the walls 2 3%; and 242. For the wall 2% the two top headers are indicated at 266 and 262. The upper header 2% has about one-half of the wall tubes connected thereto, these being the tubes over the front half of the wall 2 56. This header extends throughout the full width of the wall and has a right angled rear leg extending in substantial parallelism to the steam and water drum. This rear leg is directly above the rear leg 262' of the lower header 252 madness:

and itis directlyccnnectedl to the drum soby the horizontal circulators 26s, The header 260? is L- shaped, and is similar to the header 12am (for the wall; 242) which appears Fig; 4. In the lower half or. this: figure, the lower' headers are. shown in full lines, and in the: upper half" the top headers are shown full; The lower header 262 has rear and side wall legs 2.62 and 282" with the side wall-leg extending across one-- half of the widthof the: wall 24$ and having the; remainder of the tubes oi that wall directly con-'- nected theretm The-rear leg 2 62 is directly connected to the steam and water drum 39 by horizontal circulators such: as 266-;

The headers 26c and 26-2., and through them the Wall 2st, are suspended from thesteelwork', or steel frame-work 288 by hangers 2'10, so that the entire wall is free to expand downwardly; The: remaining walls are similarly supported.

The" opposite side wall 2412- has its tubes Sim-i larly connected to the long header 28B and ashcrter' header directly moderneath, with the rear legs of these headers similarly disposed in paralleli'sm to the 3t connected thereto by the horizontal cii'culatoirs such as 272 and 2M.

reierab-ly, the above described furnace wall tubes are, for the most art, arranged in contact, as indicated in Fig. 3, but at the side walls er the convection section the tubes 399' and at: are spaced apart; Similarly, the downcorner tubes 36' and 38, along the rear wall of the convec tiorr section are spaced apart, with the spaces be tween thetubestfl closed by'blocks 39d of thermal insulation. The outer downcomer' tubes are encased by thermal insulation 3% inthe spacebetween the blocks c234- and the outer wall 3%, of a material having good thermal insulating properties. Otherwallssimilar to the latter wall, are indicated at 219, 242-, and 248, in Fig. 3'.

The results attained by the above described header arrangement and the associated arrange ment of circulators are:

l. A marked reduction in fabrication and erection costs 2, A substantial. decrease in the costsof the original installation by reason of the use of small diameter headers;

13. A reduction of tubing required for a given capacity, due to the simplification of the arrangement of circu atory connections, and reduction in their lengths; and

4. The minimizing of the amount of tubing cx ternall-y of the setting and. the consequent reduction in the amount of thermal insulation re quired,

What is claimed is:

1. In a steam generator, a furnace, upright steam generating tubes defining the side walls and the connecting front and rear walls of the furnace, a steam water drum laterally adjacent the top of the furnace and disposed in substantial paraileiisin with the rear furnace wall, a pair of' small diameter headers disposed at the top of the furnace, each of said headers having an inlet leg disposed along a side walland an outlet leg disposed adjacent the furnace rear wall at a right angle to the inlet leg and in substantial parallelism to the longitudinal axis of the drum, each side wall having some of its tubes directly connected to the inlet leg of one of said headers and its remaining tubes directly connected to the inlet leg of the companion header, horizontal circulators directly connecting the drum and the outlet legs of the headers at positions distributed along 6 the length or the drum, and means connecting. the: water space of the drum and the inlets of the steam generating tubes.

22 In; a. steam: generator, a furnace, upright. steam generating: tubes defining the. side walls and the connecting front and rear walls: of the furnace, a steam. and water drum laterally adjacent the top of the furnace and. disposed: in substantial parallelism to the rear furnace wall, a pair of small diameter L-shapeol headersdisposed at the top of the furnace, each of said headers having an inlet leg disposed along the side wall and outlet leg disposed adjacent the furnace. rear wall at a right angle to the inlet leg and in substantial parallelism to the drum, each side wall having some of its tubes directly connected to the inlet leg of one of said headers and its remaining tubes directly connected to inletleg of the coinpanion header, horizontal circulators directly connecting the drum the outlet legs of the headers at positions distributed along the length of the: drum-i, front and rear furnace walls with all of their circulator or riser connections to the exposed to the furnace gases throughout, a-

- convection section including spaced tubes extendacross a gas pass the inlet c-f which is in communication with the furnace at its lower part,

extending from the gas outlet of the conre'ction section and across said circulators, and meansconnecting the water space of the drum the iniets of the steam generating tubes.

3. In a vapor generator; afurnace, a vapor and liquid drum laterally adjacent the top of the fur nace, upright vapor gene-rating tubes defining the furnace walls, a pair of headers at the topof the furnace, eachof said headers having an inlet leg directly connected with the tops of some of the tubes of" its furnace side wall while the other header of said pair has its corresponding inlet leg connected to the tops of the remainder of the tubes of its adjacent wall, the remaining legs of the headers extending at right angles tothe inlet legs and in substantial parallelism with the 1ongitudinal axis of the drum, horizontal circulators directly connecting the header outlet legs and the d-ru-rn, and meansfor connecting the water space of the drum and the lower ends of the furnace wall tubes to complete the fluid circulatory system of the vapor genera-tor.

l. In a steam generator; upright steam generating tubes forming the walls of a furnace; a steam and water drum laterally adjacent the top of the furnace; a plurality of outlet headers for each of the furnace walls transversely disposed r relative to thelongitudinal axis of the drum; each of said headers havin aninlet leg; parallel to an adjacent side wall of the furnace an outlet leg parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drum each of said inlet legs having only a fraction of the total number of tubes its: adjacent wall connected thereto; a gas pass between the top' of the furnace and the drum; and a plurality of circulators extending across the gas pass and directly connecting the outlet legs: of said headers to the drum at positions distributed along the lengiil'i. of the latter;

5'. In a vapor generator, a furnace, a vapor and liquid drum laterally adjacent the top of the furnace, upright vapor generating tubes defining the furnace walls, a pair of side wall headers at the top of the furnace, each of said-headers having an inlet leg directly connected with the tops of some of the tubes of its furnace side wall while the other header has its corresponding inlet leg connected to the tops of the remainder of the tubes of the same side wall, the outlet legs of the headers extending at right angles to the inlet legs and in substantial parallelism with the longitudinal axis of the drum, horizontal circulators directly connecting the header outlet legs and the drum, and means for connecting the liquid space of the drum and the lower ends of the furnace wall tubes to complete the fluid circulatory system of the vapor generator,

6. In a vapor generator, a furnace, a vapor and liquid drum disposed laterally adjacent the furnace and at the elevation of the top of the furnace, means forming an upright gas pass of a convection section at the drum side of the furnace, upright vapor generating tubes defining the furnace walls, a pair of L-shaped outlet headers at the top of the furnace for each side Wall, each of said headers having one leg directly connected with the tops of some of the tubes of the adjacent furnace side wall while the other header of each pair has its corresponding leg connected to the tops of the remainder of the tubes of the same side wall, the remaining legs of the headers extending along the rear furnace wall and in substantial parallelism with the longitudinal axis of the drum, horizontal circulators directly connecting the last mentioned header legs and the drum and extending across the upward flow of gases in the convection section, wall tubes delineating the front wall of the furnace and terminating at a level below that of the tops of the side wall tubes furnace roof tubes having circulator sections extending from the furnace across the flow of gases in said convection section and to the drum, furnace rear wall tubes with their upper parts extendin across the convection section gas pass to the drum, and means for connecting the water space of the drum and the lower ends of the furnace wall tubes to complete the fluid circulatory systern of the vapor generator.

'7. In a steam generator, an upwardly elongated furnace with its gas outlet at its lower portion, a convection section alongside the furnace and including a gas pass receiving the furnace gases at its lower end, a steam and water drum above the rear wall of the gas pass, upright furnace side wall tubes terminating in the horizontal zone of the drum level, an upper and a lower outlet header for each side wall, each header having a side wall leg with only a part of its adjacent side wall tubes connected thereto, each of said readers having a rear wall leg substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drum, circulators directly connecting the rear wall legs of the headers and the drum at distributed positions along the latter, a furnace division wall parallel to the side walls and formed by upright steam generating tubes, a plurality of division wall headers similar to the side wall headers and similarly connected to the drum, upright steam generating tubes forming a wall common to the furnace and the convection section and having upper circulator parts extending across the gas flow in the convection section and to the drum, furnace front wall tubes, furnace roof tubes forming riser connections between the front wall tubes and the drum, and relatively small diameter downcomer tubes connected to the drum at positions distributed along its length and defining the rear wall of the convection section gas pass, and means connecting the lower ends of the downcomers to the inlet ends of the furnace wall tubes.

8. In fluid heat exchange apparatus, a furnace, a transverse fluid chamber adjacent the top of the furnace, upright fluid conducting tubes defining the furnace side walls, a group of companion outlet headers at the top of the furnace for each side wall, each of said headers of a group having an inlet leg directly connected with the tops of some of the tubes of the same furnace side wall, the outlet legs of the headers extending transversely to their inlet legs and lengthwise of the chamber, circulators directly conmeeting the header outlet legs and the chamber, and downcomer means connecting the chamber and the lower ends of the furnace wall tubes to complete the fluid circulatory system of the apparatus.

9. In fluid heat exchange apparatus, a furnace, a transverse drum adjacent the top of the furnace, upright fluid conducting tubes defining the furnace side walls, a generally L-shaped outlet header at the top of the furnace for each side wall, each of said headers having an inlet leg directly connected with the tops of at least some of the tubes of a furnace side wall, the outlet legs of the headers extending transversely to their inlet legs and lengthwise of the drum, circulators directly connecting the header outlet legs and the drum, and downcomer means connecting the drum and the lower ends of the furnace wall tubes to complete the fluid circulatory system of the apparatus.

10. In fluid heat exchange apparatus, a wall construction including a row of upright Wall tubes connected into a fluid circuit and exposed externally to a high temperature heat exchange fluid, a small diameter header at the top of said wall, said header extending throughout the width of the wall but having only a fraction of the wall tubes connected thereto over a corresponding fraction of the length of the header, a shorter header section directly subjacent that part of the first header not having tubes connected thereto, the remainder of the tubes of said wall being directly joined with the shorter header, steel framework support means above the wall, and means including hangers pendently supporting the wall tubes and the headers from the steel framework.

LEROY M. FINK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,784,407 Wood Dec. 9, 1930 1,830,181 Wood Nov. 3, 1931 2,034,717 Duram Mar. 24, 1936 2,330,240 Raynor Sept. 28, 1943 

